Legend of lapis lazuli through the ages
Lapis lazuli is a gemstone revered by the Egyptians since ancient times and still prized today. Its intense blue color (lazurite), dotted with gold flakes (pyrite), evoked the starry sky, the divinities and the afterlife.
Very rare, this stone was associated with power and worn by princes and kings. The funerary mask of Tutankhamun , made of 10 kg of gold and decorated with precious stones, included lapis lazuli. According to Egyptian beliefs, gold represented the flesh of the gods and lapis lazuli their hair.
Lapis lazuli also adorned amulets placed in tombs, symbolizing protection and eternity. These talismans took the form of eyes or scarabs . Scarabs, found in large numbers in Tutankhamun's tomb, represented the sun god Khepri.
Lapis lazuli also gave rise to the pigment ultramarine blue, used in illuminations and synthesized in 1826. Its artistic use continues today, as evidenced by the famous Jardin Majorelle villa in Morocco, surrounded by a sumptuous exterior and decorated with an intense blue.
